The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and is responsible for securing the borders of the United States. According to its web site in 2022, its mission is to "Protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation's economic prosperity."

With 19,648 agents in 2019, the Border Patrol is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For fiscal year 2017, Congress enacted a budget of $3,805,253,000 for the Border Patrol.
The Border Patrol has the lowest proportion of female agents or officers of any federal agency.

There have been complaints, over many years, of Border Patrol agents mistreating migrants and exceeding their legal authority.

History
In the nineteenth century, United States borders were open and unrestricted; there was no systematic control or even recordkeeping of immigrants. The first legislation restricting immigration, after the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807, was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Mounted watchmen of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor patrolled the border in an effort to prevent illegal crossings as early as 1904, but their efforts were irregular and undertaken only when resources permitted. The inspectors, usually called "mounted guards", operated out of El Paso, Texas. Though they never totaled more than 75, they patrolled as far west as California trying to restrict the flow of illegal Chinese immigration.

In March 1915, Congress authorized a separate group of mounted guards, often referred to as "mounted inspectors". Most rode on horseback, but a few operated automobiles, motorcycles, and boats. Although these inspectors had broader arrest authority, they still largely pursued Chinese aliens trying to avoid the National Origins Act and Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. These patrolmen were immigration inspectors, assigned to inspection stations, and could not watch the border at all times. U.S. Army soldiers along the southwest border performed intermittent border patrolling, but this was secondary to "the more serious work of military training". Aliens encountered illegally in the U.S. by the Army were directed to the immigration inspection stations. Texas Rangers were also sporadically assigned to patrol duties by the state, and their efforts were noted as "singularly effective".

The National Origins Act authorized the formation of the U.S. Border Patrol on May 26, 1924. Two days later, the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 established the Border Patrol as an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor assigned to prevent illegal entries—primarily along the Mexico–United States border, as well as the Canada–U.S. border. The first Border Patrol station began operations in Detroit, Michigan, in June 1924. A second station, in El Paso, Texas, began operations in July 1924. In 1925, coastal patrols began as well. Operations were established along the Gulf Coast in 1927 to ensure that foreign crewmen departed on the same ship on which they arrived. In 1932, the Border Patrol was divided into two offices. Mexican border operations were directed from El Paso, Texas, and Canadian border operations were directed from Detroit, Michigan. The Canadian border operations from Detroit employed more men than the El Paso operations along the Mexican border because of a focus on the prevention of liquor smuggling during prohibition. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order 6166 formed the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 1933 by consolidation of the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization. Following the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Border Patrol staffing doubled to 1,500 in 1940, and the INS was moved from the Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Justice. Additional stations were temporarily added along the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Eastern Seaboard during the 1960s after Fidel Castro triumphed in the Cuban Revolution, and that was followed by the Cuban Missile Crisis. The INS was decommissioned in March 2003 when its operations were divided between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Border Patrol was placed under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, and preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States was added to its mission. The Border Patrol's traditional mission continued: deterring, detecting and apprehending illegal aliens and individuals involved in the illegal drug trade who generally entered the United States at places other than through designated ports of entry. The Border Patrol also erected 33 permanent interior checkpoints near the southern border of the United States.

For fiscal year 2019, the nationwide total of Border Patrol agents was 19,648, with 16,731 patrolling the southern border. Agents primarily patrol the Mexico–United States border, where they control drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

The majority of Border Patrol agents are minorities. According to 2016 data, Latinos constitute slightly more than 50% of the Border Patrol.

In late 2021, after public criticism, the Border Patrol outfitted agents with body cameras, which it had rejected in 2015 as too expensive, bad for agent morale, and unreliable; it had previously required state and local law enforcement to turn off their body cameras during joint operations with CBP.

In September 2021, while mounted Border Patrol agents in Del Rio, Texas, responded to an influx of refugees from Haiti crossing the Mexico–United States border, a photograph was captured of an agent appearing to use his bridle reins as a whip against a Haitian migrant. U.S. President Joe Biden said, "To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over, people being strapped. It's outrageous. I promise you those people will pay. There will be an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences." The photographer, when interviewed, said he did not see any whipping. Months later, in November 2021, The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG) declined to investigate allegations against the agents on horseback.

Strategy

1986: Employer sanctions and interior enforcement

The Border Patrol's priorities have changed over the years. In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act placed renewed emphasis on controlling illegal immigration by going after the employers that hire illegal aliens. The belief was that jobs were the magnet that attracted most illegal aliens to come to the United States. The Border Patrol increased interior enforcement and Form I-9 audits of businesses through an inspection program known as "employer sanctions". Several agents were assigned to interior stations, such as within the Livermore Sector in Northern California.

Employer sanctions never became the effective tool it was expected to be by Congress. Illegal immigration continued to swell after the 1986 amnesty despite employer sanctions. By 1993, Californians passed Proposition 187, denying benefits to illegal aliens and criminalizing illegal aliens in possession of forged green cards, identification cards, and Social Security numbers. It also authorized police officers to question non-nationals as to their immigration status and required police and sheriff departments to cooperate and report illegal aliens to the INS. Proposition 187 drew nationwide attention to illegal immigration.

Checkpoint stations
United States Border Patrol Interior Checkpoints are inspection stations operated by the USBP within  of an international border (with Mexico or Canada) or any U.S. coastline.

El Paso Sector's Operation Hold the Line
El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Silvestre Reyes started a program called "Operation Hold the Line". In this program, Border Patrol agents would no longer react to illegal entries resulting in apprehensions, but would instead be forward deployed to the border, immediately detecting any attempted entries or deterring crossing at a more remote location. The idea was that it would be easier to capture illegal entrants in the wide open deserts than through the urban alleyways. Chief Reyes deployed his agents along the Rio Grande, within eyesight of other agents. The program significantly reduced illegal entries in the urban part of El Paso by shifting them to other areas.

San Diego sector's Operation Gatekeeper

Congressman Duncan Hunter became a major proponent of additional border fencing in the San Diego sector; surplus military landing mats were obtained to use as an initial border fence. Stadium lighting, ground sensors and infra-red cameras were also placed in the area.  Eventually the primitive landing mat fence was replaced with a modern triple fence line that begins over one hundred yards into the Pacific Ocean at Imperial Beach, California, and ends more than 13 miles (19 km) inland on Otay Mesa where the mountains begin.

Northern border

Through agency whistleblowers, Agent Mark Hall and Agent Robert Lindemann, it was revealed that in 2001, the Border Patrol had approximately 324 agents assigned along the Canada–United States border. Northern border staffing had been increased by 1,128 agents to 1,470 agents by the end of fiscal year 2008, and is projected to expand to 1,845 by the end of fiscal year 2009, a six-fold increase. Resources that support Border Patrol agents include the use of new technology and a more focused application of air and marine assets.

The northern border sectors are (west to east): Blaine (Washington), Spokane (Washington), Havre (Montana), Grand Forks (North Dakota), Detroit (Selfridge ANGB, Michigan), Buffalo (New York), Swanton (Vermont), and Houlton (Maine).

New strategy

In November 2005, the U.S. Border Patrol published an updated national strategy. The goal of this updated strategy was operational control of the United States border.  The strategy has five main objectives:
Apprehend terrorists and terrorist weapons illegally entering the United States
Deter illegal entries through improved enforcement
Detect, apprehend, and deter smugglers of humans, drugs, and other contraband
Use "smart border" technology
Reduce crime in border communities, improving quality of life.

Capabilities

The United States border is a barely discernible line in the uninhabited deserts, canyons, or mountains and rivers. The Border Patrol utilizes a variety of equipment and methods, such as electronic sensors placed at strategic locations along the border, to detect people or vehicles entering the country illegally. Video monitors and night vision scopes are also used to detect illegal entries. Agents patrol the border in vehicles, boats, aircraft, and afoot. In some areas, the Border Patrol employs horses, all-terrain motorcycles, bicycles, and snowmobiles. Air surveillance capabilities are provided by unmanned aerial vehicles.

The primary activity of a Border Patrol agent is "line watch". Line watch involves the detection, prevention, and apprehension of terrorists, illegal aliens and smugglers of aliens at or near the land border by maintaining surveillance from a covert position; following up on leads; responding to electronic sensor, television systems and aircraft sightings; and interpreting and following tracks, marks, and other physical evidence. Major activities include traffic check, traffic observation, city patrol, transportation check, administrative, intelligence, and anti-smuggling activities.

Traffic checks are conducted on major highways leading away from the border to detect and apprehend illegal aliens attempting to travel further into the interior of the United States after evading detection at the border, and to detect illegal narcotics.

Transportation checks are inspections of interior-bound conveyances, which include buses, commercial aircraft, passenger and freight trains, and marine craft.

Marine patrols are conducted along the coastal waterways of the United States, primarily along the Pacific coast, the Caribbean, the tip of Florida, and Puerto Rico and interior waterways common to the United States and Canada. The Border Patrol conducts patrol activities from 130 marine craft of various sizes. The Border Patrol maintains watercraft ranging from blue-water craft to inflatable-hull craft, in 16 sectors, in addition to headquarters and special operations components.  The Border Patrol Marine Position was created in 2009 (BPA-M).

Horse and bike patrols are used to augment regular vehicle and foot patrols. Horse units patrol remote areas along the international boundary that are inaccessible to standard all-terrain vehicles. Bike patrol aids city patrol and is used over rough terrain to support line watch. Snowmobiles are used to patrol remote areas along the northern border in the winter.

Expansion

In 1992, the United States Border Patrol had approximately 4,139 patrol agents on the job.  Attrition in the Border Patrol was normally at 5%.  From 1995 to 2001 annual attrition rose to above 10%, which was a period when the Border Patrol was undergoing massive hiring.  In 2002 the attrition rate climbed to 18%.  The 18% attrition was largely attributed to agents transferring to the Federal Air Marshals after 9/11. In 2017, the attrition rate was at 6%.

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (signed by President Bush on December 17, 2004) authorized hiring an additional 10,000 agents, "subject to appropriation". This authorization nearly doubled the Border Patrol size, from 11,000 to 20,000 agents by 2010. As of 2016, roughly half of the agents are Latino Americans.

The Secure Fence Act, signed by President Bush on October 26, 2006, has met with much opposition. In October 2007, environmental groups and concerned citizens filed a restraining order hoping to halt the construction of the fence, set to be built between the United States and Mexico. The act mandated that the fence be built by December 2008. Ultimately, the United States seeks to put fencing around the  border, but the act requires only  of fencing. DHS secretary Michael Chertoff has bypassed environmental and other oppositions with a waiver that was granted to him by Congress in Section 102 of the act, which allows DHS to avoid any conflicts that would prevent a speedy assembly of the fence.

This action has led many environment groups and landowners to speak out against the impending construction of the fence. Environment and wildlife groups fear that the plans to clear brush, construct fences, install bright lights, motion sensors, and cameras will scare wildlife and endanger the indigenous species of the area. Environmentalists claim that the ecosystem could be affected because a border fence would restrict movement of all animal species, which in turn would keep them from water and food sources on one side or another. Desert plants would also feel the impact, as they would be uprooted in many areas where the fence is set to occupy.

In 2008, property owners in these areas feared a loss of land. Landowners would have had to give some of their land over to the government for the fence. Brownsville mayor Pat Ahumada favored alternative options to a border fence. He suggested that the Rio Grande be widened and deepened to provide for a natural barrier to hinder illegal aliens and drug smugglers.

Other specialized programs

In 2007, the U.S. Border Patrol created the special operations group (SOG) headquartered in El Paso, Texas, to coordinate the special operations units of the agency.
The U.S. Border Patrol has a number of other specialized programs and details. Marine patrol – In the riverine environments of the northern and southwestern borders of the continental United States, the Border Patrol conducts border control activities from the decks of marine craft of various sizes.  Since 2006, the U.S. Border Patrol has relinquished its littoral law enforcement missions in the Great Lakes and territorial seas to the Office of Air and Marine.  The U.S. Border Patrol maintains over 130 vessels, ranging from blue-water craft to inflatable-hull craft, in 16 sectors, in addition to headquarters special operations components.

K9 units, mounted patrols, bike patrols, sign-cutting (tracking), snowmobile units, infrared-scope units, intelligence, anti-smuggling investigations unit (ASU/DISRUPT, Border Criminal Alien Program, multi-agency anti-gang task forces (regional and local units), honor guards, pipes and drums, chaplains, peer support, and mobile surveillance units.

Deterrence

"Operation Gatekeeper" was launched in 1994 to stop aliens from crossing illegally into the United States.  The strategy included increased enforcement and extensive fencing near border cities, with the two-fold purpose of deflecting aliens to remote areas where they could more easily be detected and apprehended, as well as using mountains, deserts, and Rio Grande as a deterrent to easy passage.  The newly erected Mexico–United States barrier—which at some remote locations is no more than a fence—has also forced aliens and human traffickers to seek out remote desert locations in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas where they may attempt crossing. The "funnel effect" created by both these strategies has contributed to the deaths of thousands of aliens, whose remains are often found in the hot desert or freezing mountains.

As early as 1998, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service implemented the Border Safety Initiative in response to concerns about the number of aliens injured or killed while attempting to cross the border. It was noted that Border Patrol agents routinely supplied water, food, and medical care to aliens. That same year, Border Patrol, Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR), a specialized unit trained in emergency search and rescue, was established with the purpose of assisting injured or stranded aliens at remote locations.

In 2002, the first "rescue beacons" were installed in desert areas considered especially dangerous. The beacons are solar powered and highly visible, and have a button which alerts Border Patrol agents by radio signal, after which a helicopter or ground unit is dispatched. U.S. Senator Bill Frist commented in 2006: "these beacons, I believe, are an absolutely vital link in our border security system... We know that beacons work: CBP has already saved dozens of people based entirely on beacon alerts." The Border Patrol frequently publishes reports about stranded and injured individuals rescued at beacon locations.

In fiscal year 2020, Border Patrol agents and Air and Marine Operations agents are credited with saving more than 5,000 people and conducted approximately 1,400 search and rescue operations.

Sectors

There are 20 Border Patrol sectors, each headed by a sector chief patrol agent.

Training
All Border Patrol agents spend a minimum of 26 weeks at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico, which is a component of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). Border Patrol Agent Trainees are instructed in courses including; Spanish, criminal law, nationality law, and administrative immigration law, police sciences, self-defense and arrest techniques, firearms training with pistol, shotgun and rifle, police vehicle driving, and other Border Patrol / federal law enforcement subjects.

Once they arrive back at their duty station, Trainees then must graduate from the Field Training program, an on-the-job training program led by a Field Training Officer (FTO), which varies in length from a minimum of 12 weeks to a maximum of over 16 weeks long, depending on the practical demands of the duty station and local management.

Appearance

Uniforms
The Border Patrol, around the year 2007, wore the following types of uniforms:

 Summer dress uniform – The summer dress uniform consists of a short-sleeve, olive-green dress shirt (which may or may not have blue shoulder straps), brass nameplate, badge, olive-green slacks with a blue stripe running the length of the seam, and black dress shoes or dress boots. A green, straw campaign hat is worn with this uniform.
 Winter dress uniform – The winter dress uniform consists of a long-sleeve, olive green dress shirt, navy-blue clip-on tie with a brass tie tack, olive-green ike jacket with blue accents (shoulder straps and cuffs), brass nameplate, badge, olive-green slacks with a blue stripe running the length of the seam, and black dress shoes or dress boots. A green, felt campaign hat with a black, leather hat band is worn with this uniform.
 Ceremonial dress uniform – Worn primarily by Border Patrol honor guard agents, the ceremonial dress uniform is roughly identical to the winter dress uniform, with the exception that a tunic is worn with this uniform, rather than an ike jacket. White, cloth gloves are also worn with this uniform.
 Rough duty uniform – The rough duty uniform consists of a green, long-sleeve or short-sleeve work shirt, green cargo pants, and black work boots; a green baseball cap or cowboy hat is typically worn with this uniform.
 There are also specialized rough duty uniforms for marine patrol (riverine), northern border cold weather, horse patrol and bike patrol agents.
 Highland uniform – Worn by members of the United States Border Patrol Pipes and Drums in the performance of their official duties, this uniform includes a kilt made of the official Border Patrol tartan, custom made olive-green ceremonial coat, glengarry, sporran and white spats.
 Organization patches – The Border Patrol wears two:
 The CBP patch is worn on the right sleeves of the uniform. It contains the DHS seal against a black background with a "keystone" shape. A keystone is the central, wedge-shaped stone in an arch, which holds all the other stones in place.
 Border Patrol agents retain the circular legacy Border Patrol patch, which is worn on the left sleeve.

The Border Patrol uniform got its first makeover since the 1950s to appear more like military fatigues and less like a police officer's duty garb. Leather belts with brass buckles have been replaced by nylon belts with quick-release plastic buckles, slacks have been replaced by lightweight cargo pants, and shiny badges and nameplates have been replaced by cloth patches.

Ranks and insignia

Shoulder ornaments

Awards

Newton-Azrak Award for Heroism
The Border Patrol's highest honor is the Newton-Azrak Award for Heroism.  This award is bestowed to Border Patrol agents for extraordinary actions, service; accomplishments reflecting unusual courage or bravery in the line of duty; or an extraordinarily heroic or humane act committed during times of extreme stress or in an emergency.

This award is named for Border Patrol inspectors Theodore Newton and George Azrak, who were murdered by two drug smugglers in San Diego County in 1967.

Uniform devices

Equipment

Weapons

Border Patrol agents have a choice of being issued either the Glock 47 or the Glock 19M pistol in 9mm caliber. The Glock 47 can contain as many as 18 rounds of ammunition (17 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber), while the Glock 19 can contain as many as 16 rounds. Up until 1995 the Border Patrol issued its patrol agents .357 Magnum revolvers as their duty sidearms, Smith & Wesson or Ruger model large frame, six-shot revolvers.  The Border Patrol preferred this weapon because it did not jam in harsh conditions, like those of the southwestern border, and also because of the strong "stopping power" of the .357 Magnum cartridge. Although up until 1995 patrol agents could purchase weapons from the agency list of approved authorized personal weapons for duty carry. This list included the Glock Models 17 and 19 pistols in 9 mm, the SIG Sauer P220 pistol in .45 ACP caliber, the Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver, and the Smith & Wesson Model 19/66 .357 Magnum revolver. The Border Patrol adopted the Beretta Model 96D, a .40 S&W caliber semi-automatic pistol (modified for double-action only) (with 11-round capacity magazines) as its duty issue sidearm in 1995.  The .40 S&W caliber jacketed hollow-point cartridge was adopted because of its excellent "stopping power" and its superior ballistic characteristics over the 9 mm cartridge. In late 2006 the H&K P2000 pistol was adopted as the Border Patrol's primary duty sidearm.  The H&K Model USP compact pistol, H&K Model P2000SK (sub-compact) and Beretta M96D .40 S&W caliber pistols are authorized as secondary sidearms.

On April 9, 2019, CBP announced that the U.S. Border Patrol would transition from the .40 caliber H&K P2000 to an unnamed 9-millimeter Glock pistol, by the end of fiscal year 2021.  It has since been revealed that the three Glock handguns that are to be issued to CBP officers and agents are the model G26, model G19, and the specifically manufactured for CBP model G47.

Like many other law enforcement agencies, the 12 gauge Remington Model 870 is the standard pump-action shotgun. The Border Patrol issue Model 870 has been modified by Scattergun Technologies to Border Patrol specifications including: a 14-inch barrel, a five-shot capacity magazine, a composite stock with pistol grip, and night sights with a tactical "ghost-ring" rear sight. The old Border Patrol "anti-bandit" units used to use 12-gauge, semi-automatic shotguns with sawed-off barrels. This weapon had the designated name of a "Sidewinder".  The USBP anti-bandit units were decommissioned in the late 1980s.

Border Patrol agents also commonly carry the Colt M4 Carbine (specifically, the updated M4A1) using agency-issued 64-grain, .223 caliber ammunition and the H&K UMP .40 caliber submachine gun. The .308 caliber M14 rifle is used for ceremonial purposes and by agents who are qualified with the rifle and BORTAC.

As a less than lethal option, the Border Patrol uses the FN 303 launcher.  The FN 303 fires 40mm plastic pellet balls containing OC (oleoresin capsicum) pepper dust.  The plastic pellet balls burst on impact spraying the suspect with OC pepper dust and also acts as impact projectiles. The Border Patrol also issues its agents OC pepper spray canisters, tasers and a collapsible/telescopic (or telescoping) steel police baton.

Transportation

Unlike in many other law enforcement agencies in the United States, the Border Patrol operates over 10,000 SUVs and pickup trucks, which are known for their capabilities to move around in any sort of terrain. These vehicles may have individual revolving lights (strobes or LEDs) and/or light bars and sirens and/or have their bumpers removed or have off-road suspension and tires. An extensive modernization drive has ensured that these vehicles are equipped with wireless sets in communication with a central control room. Border Patrol vehicles may also have equipment such as emergency first aid kits. Some sectors make use of sedans like the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor or the Dodge Charger as patrol cars or high speed "interceptors" on highways. The U.S. Border Patrol has approximately 2,000 sedans. The Border Patrol also operates all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and small boats in riverine environments.

In 2005, all Border Patrol and ICE aircraft operations were combined under CBP's Office of Air and Marine. All CBP vessel operations within the Customs Waters and on the high seas are conducted by Marine Interdiction Agents of the Office of Air and Marine.

Color schemes of Border Patrol vehicles are either a long green stripe running the length of the vehicle (older vehicles) or a broad green diagonal stripe (newer vehicles) on the door. Most Border Patrol vehicles are painted predominantly white. During the 1960s to mid-1980s Border Patrol vehicles were painted a light green.

The Border Patrol also extensively uses horses for remote area patrols. , the U.S. Border Patrol has 205 horses. Most are employed along the Mexico–United States border. In Arizona, these animals are fed special processed feed pellets so that their wastes do not spread non-native plants in the national parks and wildlife areas they patrol.

Killed in the line of duty
Since 1904, the Border Patrol has had 149 inspectors/officers/agents killed in the line of duty, more than any other federal law enforcement agency during that time period.

Armed incursions
On March 14, 2000, 16 Mexican soldiers in two humvees chased a Border Patrol agent near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, while another agent came under gunfire. Backup arrived and nine of the soldiers were detained. The Mexican government said the soldiers were unfamiliar with the border in that area as those soldiers were normally deployed to Mexico's interior. The U.S. State Department ordered them sent back to Mexico along with their weapons.

On August 7, 2008, Mexican troops crossed the border into Arizona and held a U.S. Border Patrol Agent at gunpoint. Agents stationed at Ajo, Arizona, said that the Mexican soldiers crossed the border into an isolated area southwest of Tucson and pointed rifles at the agent, who has not been identified. The Mexicans withdrew after other U.S. agents arrived on the scene.

On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers with an AR-15 rifle. Ramos had legally purchased two AR-15s and ammunition a few days earlier. Agents of U.S. Customs and BORTAC responded to the scene, and within minutes of their arrival, fatally shot Ramos, ending his 70-minute rampage. One agent suffered a injury.

Death threats
Testifying in front of the United States Senate, Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan said that the Border Patrol is one of the most assaulted law enforcement agencies; since 2006, over seven thousand agents of the Border Patrol were attacked. On numerous occasions USBP agents have been fired upon from the Mexican side of the international border.  Intelligence gathering has discovered bounties being placed on Patrol Agents to be paid by criminal smuggling organizations upon the confirmed murder or kidnapping of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. In 2008, intelligence learned of a two-million-dollar contract for the murder of a Border Patrol Agent. In 2009 Border Patrol Agent Rosas was murdered in an ambush while on patrol; a bounty may have been paid to the assassins.

Criticisms

Payouts to settle claims of mistreatment
Official data released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that between 2005 and 2017, the federal government paid out more than $60,000,000 in legal settlements of cases in which border agents were involved in deaths, driving injuries, alleged assaults, and wrongful detention. For example, in the 2003 case of Ricardo Olivares, the agent who fired the shot who killed him was not prosecuted, by decision of the U.S. Department of Justice, but a civil suit filed by the man's family resulted in an award of $350,000.

Ramos and Compean
In February 2005, Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were involved in an incident while pursuing a van in Fabens, Texas. The driver, later identified as Aldrete Davila, was shot by Agent Ramos during a scuffle. Davila escaped back into Mexico, and the agents discovered that the van contained a million dollars worth of marijuana (about 750 pounds). None of the agents at the scene orally reported the shooting, including two supervisors: Robert Arnold, first-line Supervisor and Jonathan Richards, a higher ranking Field Operations Supervisor.
Ramos and Compean were charged with multiple crimes. Ramos was convicted of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and a civil rights violation. Compeán was found guilty on 11 counts, including discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, which by itself carries a federally mandated 10-year minimum sentence. Without that charge, both agents involved would have received far shorter sentences. Ramos was sentenced to 11 years and a day in prison and Compean to 12 years. Jonathan Richards was promoted to the Patrol Agent in Charge of the Santa Teresa, New Mexico Border Patrol Station soon after the incident. On January 19, 2009, President Bush commuted the sentences of both Ramos and Compean, effectively ending their prison term on March 20, 2009, and they were released on February 17, 2009. The case generated widely differing opinion among various commentators and advocacy groups: civil libertarians asserted the agents used illegal and excessive force, while advocates of tighter border control defended the agents actions.

Death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas

On May 30, 2010, Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas died of a heart attack while in the custody of United States Border Patrol (USBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and agents and officers at the San Diego–Tijuana border. He was beaten and then shocked by tasers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, within view of many bystanders with cameras on the busy pedestrian bridge. Although the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation concluded on November 6, 2015, that Hernández-Rojas died of a heart attack, an offer of a million-dollar settlement was made to his family. None of the agents or officers involved were fired or disciplined for excessive use of force. In February 2017, his common-law wife and five children accepted the settlement. Hernández-Rojas's death was profiled in a 2012 PBS report called Crossing the Line, in Nonny de la Peña's 2013 five-minute-long virtual reality called Use of Force, and in a 2014 American Civil Liberties Union report.

Death of Sergio Hernandez
Sergio Adrian Hernandez was a teenager who was shot once and killed on June 7, 2010, by Border Patrol agents under a bridge crossing between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Border Patrol agents claimed that there was a mob that pelted them with rocks. For his involvement in the incident, Border Patrol agent Jesus Mesa, Jr., invoked qualified immunity in his defense.  In February 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Hernandez family may not bring suit against the agent, highlighting the 1971 case Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents in the majority opinion.

On June 10, Mexican President Felipe Calderón called on the United States to launch a "thorough, impartial" probe into the deaths of two Mexican nationals, including the 14-year-old Hernandez, at the hands of U.S. border police: "I demand the United States government conduct a thorough, impartial...investigation, concluding with an establishment of the facts and punishment of the culprits."

On June 12, 2010, the television network Univision aired cellphone video footage of the incident, after which Mexican legislators called unsuccessfully for the extradition of the officer accused of the shooting.

Death of José Antonio Elena Rodríguez

In October 2012, 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez was killed in downtown Nogales, Mexico, when a Border Patrol Agent, Lonnie Swartz, opened fire at a group of people allegedly throwing rocks at him; Rodriguez was shot eight times in the back and twice in the head. Swartz was criminally charged, but in November 2018, a jury found him not guilty.

Incidents involving use of tear gas and pepper spray
On November 25, 2013, the San Diego Tribune reported that 100 aliens who tried to cross the border illegally near the San Ysidro port were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed after throwing bottles and rocks at border patrol agents. A similar incident was reported in November 2018.

Allegations of abuse
Various civil activist and human rights organizations have alleged abuses of illegal aliens by Border Patrol agents:
According to the ACLU of Texas, between 2010 and December 13, 2021, there were 46 migrant deaths while in the custody of the Border Patrol, and 68 deaths as a result of Border Patrol-involved car chases.

In October 2021 Human Rights Watch released reports by U.S. asylum officers of over 160 reports of mistreatment by Border Patrol agents. In some cases the asylum officers apologized to the migrants for the treatment they had received from the Border Patrol. According to Clara Long, associate director of Human Rights Watch, "The documents make clear that reports of grievous C.B.P. [Customs and Border Protection] abuses—physical and sexual assaults, abusive detention conditions and violations of due process—are an open secret within D.H.S. [Department of Homeland Security]. They paint a picture of D.H.S. as an agency that appears to have normalized shocking abuses at the U.S. border."

In 2018, activists alleged that water and food supplies left for illegal aliens were regularly destroyed by the Border Patrol.

June 7, 2018: On a bus travelling from Bakersfield to Las Vegas, agents from the United States Border Patrol stopped and boarded a Greyhound bus at an agricultural checkpoint near the Nevada State Line.  The United States Border Patrol agents had no authorization to stop the Greyhound bus or interrogate passengers since the location was not within the 100 air mile zone of the United States Border as authorized by section 287 of the INA.  A passenger recognized that the agents of the United States Border Patrol lacked authorization to conduct their interrogations.  All other passengers aboard the Greyhound bus were notified that United States Border Patrol agents were not supposed to be stopping the bus or conducting interrogations. After a short argument with the passenger who alerted everybody, the United States Border Patrol agents left the bus.  Later, the passenger who had argued with the United States Border Patrol agents decided to post an online petition on change.org titled "Greyhound: Stop endangering migrants" as a warning for passengers against unauthorised searches by agents of DHS, ICE, and United States Border Patrol.  The online petition has gathered over 60,934 signatures worldwide.

Between 2010 and 2011 alleged excessive use of force by Border Patrol agents and Field Operations officers led to the death of six Mexican citizens. A PBS report, Crossing the Line, released in July 2012, profiled the case of Hernández-Rojas who died after being beaten and while in custody of the USBP, ICE, and CBP in May 2010. In 2012, in a letter to President Obama posted on the website of the Washington Office on Latin America, 118 civil society organizations criticized the Border Patrol for failing to thoroughly investigate the incident and stated that the Border Patrol "is operating with very little transparency and virtual impunity, especially in the southern border region where Border Patrol and other CBP agents regularly violate the human and civil rights of those who call the border region home."

From 2008 to 2011, the Arizona organization No More Deaths interviewed nearly 13,000 illegal aliens who had been in Border Patrol custody, in the Arizona border towns of Naco, Nogales, and Agua Prieta. Their report, A Culture of Cruelty, documents alleged abuses including denial of or insufficient water and food; failure to provide medical treatment; verbal, physical and psychological abuse; separation of family members; and dangerous repatriation practices. In February 2012, Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher stated in congressional testimony that the Border Patrol takes allegations of abuse seriously. No More Deaths testified before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in March 2012 that in spite of raising their concerns for several years, "the agency has taken the position that such abuses simply do not occur."

There are allegations of abuse by the United States Border Patrol, such as the ones reported by Jesus A. Trevino, that concludes in an article published in the Houston Journal of International Law (2006) with a request to create an independent review commission to oversee the actions of the Border Patrol, and that creating such review board will make the American public aware of the "serious problem of abuse that exists at the border by making this review process public" and that "illegal immigrants deserve the same constitutionally-mandated humane treatment of citizens and legal residents".

In 1998, Amnesty International investigated allegations of ill-treatment and brutality by officers of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and particularly the Border Patrol. Their report said they found indications of human rights violations during 1996, 1997, and early 1998.

An article in Social Justice by Michael Huspek, Leticia Jimenez, Roberto Martinez (1998) cites that in December 1997, John Case, head of the INS Office of Internal Audit, announced at a press conference that public complaints to the INS had risen 29% from 1996, with the "vast majority" of complaints emanating from the southwest border region, but that of the 2,300 cases, the 243 cases of serious allegations of abuse were down in 1997. These serious cases are considered to be distinct from less serious complaints, such as "verbal abuse, discrimination, extended detention without cause."

At some Greyhound stations and along certain routes, agents from United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and United States Border Patrol have been known to stop and interrogate passengers. While DHS, ICE, and US Border Patrol Agents are legally allowed to interrogate passengers within 100 air miles of the borders of the United States, according to the ACLU and some legal experts, without a warrant, United States Border Patrol agents need the explicit consent of Greyhound to be on Greyhound property. Protesters against Greyhound Bus Lines allowing the DHS and ICE agents to board the buses have posted an online petition titled "Greyhound: Stop Throwing Passengers Under the BUS" on the ACLU website, which gathered 111,895 signatures as of 2019.  As of February 21, 2020 Greyhound refuses unwarranted inspections. A memo addressed to all chief patrol agents and signed by then-Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said agents can't board private buses without consent from bus companies.

Between September 2018 and September 2019, ten aliens died in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol or its parent agency.

Corruption
According to Reveal News, between 2006 and 2016 more than 130 officers employed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection were caught in alleged acts of mission-compromising corruption – often by letting drugs, undocumented immigrants, or both into the country. "While that's a tiny fraction of the total number of agents, report after report has suggested the known cases may be the tip of the iceberg."

Incidences of corruption in the U.S. Border Patrol include:
 U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave Accenture Federal Services a $297 million contract in 2017 to hire 7,500 people over five years. An audit by the Department of Homeland Security found that, as of Oct. 1, 2018, Accenture had already been paid $13.6 million but had only hired two people.
Pablo Sergio Barry, an agent charged with one count of harboring an illegal alien (8 U.S.C. § 1324), three counts of false statements, and two counts of making a false document. He pleaded guilty.
Christopher E. Bernis, an agent indicted on a charge of harboring an illegal alien for nine months while employed as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent.
Jose De Jesus Ruiz, an agent whose girlfriend was an illegal alien. He was put on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Oscar Antonio Ortiz, an illegal alien who used a fake birth certificate to get into the Border Patrol. He admitted to smuggling more than 100 illegal aliens into the U.S., some of them in his government truck. He was charged with conspiring with another agent to smuggle aliens.
An unidentified patrol agent who was recorded on a wiretap stating that he helped to smuggle 30 to 50 aliens at a time.
 Joel Luna, a Border Patrol agent, was convicted in 2017 of engaging in criminal activity and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was acquitted on a murder charge. He was involved in smuggling drugs into the United States and guns to Mexico.

Facebook

In 2019, U.S. Border Patrol supervisors discovered many employees posting inappropriate content in a private Facebook group. The "group where agents posted sexist and callous references to migrants and the politicians who support them reinforced the perception that agents often view the vulnerable people in their care with frustration and contempt." Carla Provost, at the time head of the agency, was among them; she retired in 2020.

Morale
According to a posting in Law Enforcement Today in August 2021, morale among Border Patrol agents was "in the toilet". In Del Rio, Texas, where illegal aliens were so numerous they were detained in a squalid camp underneath the international bridge, agents were so overwhelmed with processing those arriving aliens that self-surrendered that there were no agents patrolling large stretches of the border.

In 2019, Agents stated that "people actively hate us".

National council
National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) is the labor union which represents over 17,000 Border Patrol agents and support staff. The NBPC was founded on November 1, 1965, and its parent organization is the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL–CIO. The NBPC's executive committee is staffed by current and retired Border Patrol agents and, along with its constituent locals, employs a staff of a dozen attorneys and field representatives. The NBPC is associated with the Peace Officer Research Association of California Legal Defense Fund|California's Legal Defense Fund.

Foundation
The Border Patrol Foundation was founded in 2009 to assist the survivors of agents killed in the line of duty.  The foundation provides financial support to immediate family members, peer family support, and a scholarship to eligible children.  The foundation recognizes community leaders who have supported the families of fallen agents, and supports programs to improve awareness of the risks faced by agents.

Chiefs

See also

 Airspace
 Bering Strait
 Border control
 Border guard
 Border Network for Human Rights
 CBP Office of Air and Marine
 CBP Office of Field Operations
 Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. State Department

 Illegal immigration to Canada
 Illegal immigration to Mexico
 Illegal immigration to Russia
 Illegal immigration to the United States
 Immigration law
 List of immigrant detention sites in the United States
 Maritime boundary
 Minuteman Project
 Missing in Brooks County
 National Border Patrol Museum
 No More Deaths
 Operation Gatekeeper

References

Further reading
 Kelly Lytle Hernandez. Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol  (University of California Press; 2010) 274 pages; draws on previously lost and untapped records in a history of the force since its beginnings in 1924.

External links

 U.S. Border Patrol history
 National Border Patrol Strategy(PDF)
 Border Patrol official recruiting page
 Border Patrol Museum

1924 establishments in Washington, D.C.
United States Border Patrol
Borders of the United States
Border Patrol
Organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Border Patrol

United States Border Patrol


Dries Van den Broecke, né le  à Gand en Belgique, est un skieur alpin belge.

Biographie
Dries Van den Broecke est originaire de Gand. À l'âge de 12 ans, il s'installe en Autriche et a fréquente le Schigymnasium Stams. Il vit désormais à Plangeross dans le Pitztal et s'est déjà entraîné avec le Benni Raich Race Center. Il maîtrise quatre langues: l'allemand, l'anglais, le français et le néerlandais.

Il connaît un premier succès en 2008, lorsqu'il remporte le prestigieux Trofeo Topolino. À l'âge de 15 ans, il participe pour la première fois aux Championnats du monde juniors à Crans-Montana et prend part à la descente, au super-G et au slalom géant. Lors de ses quatre autres participations (jusqu'en 2016), une  place au slalom de Jasná (2014) reste son meilleur résultat. En 2012, il remporte la médaille d'argent en slalom lors des Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse d'hiver à Innsbruck.

Le 2 décembre 2012, à l'âge de 17 ans, il fait ses débuts en Coupe du monde lors du slalom géant de Beaver Creek, et quelques semaines plus tard, il participe pour la première fois à la Coupe d'Europe. Jusqu'à présent, il n'a pas marqué de points en Coupe du monde. En 2014, il remporte les titres de champion de Belgique de super-G, de slalom géant et de slalom à Val Thorens. Le 11 février 2017, il monte pour la première fois sur le podium d'une course FIS en terminant troisième du slalom de Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Lors des Championnats du monde de Saint-Moritz, Van den Broecke créé la surprise lors de la compétition par équipe. Lors du premier tour de la course parallèle, il inflige au multiple champion du monde Marcel Hirscher sa première défaite dans cette discipline et réalise le troisième meilleur temps de la compétition avec 20,82 secondes. L'équipe belge est néanmoins éliminée par les favoris autrichiens.

En novembre 2018, il marque ses premiers points pour le classement de la Coupe d'Europe avec une  place au slalom de Levi.

Aux Championnats du monde 2021, à Cortina d'Ampezzo, il réussit le douzième temps des qualifications du parallèle, insuffisant pour passer en phase finale.

Palmarès

Jeux olympiques

Championnats du monde

Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse
Innsbruck 2012 :
 Médaille d'argent du slalom.

Références

Liens externes

Skieur alpin belge
Skieur alpin aux Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 2022
Naissance en juin 1998
Naissance à Gand

Dries Van den Broecke


Panama-papirerne eller the Panama Papers er et lækket sæt data bestående af 11,5 millioner hemmelige dokumenter udarbejdet af det panamanske selskab Mossack Fonseca, som rummer detaljerede oplysninger om mere end 214.000 offshore-selskaber, herunder identiteter på ejere og direktører. Dokumenterne angiver ledere af fem lande — Argentina, Island, Saudi-Arabien, Ukraine og Forenede Arabiske Emirater — såvel som regeringspersoner og nære tilknyttede for mere end 40 andre lande, herunder Brasilien, Kina, Frankrig, Indien, Malaysia, Mexico, Malta, Pakistan, Rusland, Sydafrika, Spanien, Syrien og Storbritannien.

Dokumenterne er udarbejdet siden 1970'erne og rummer over 2,6 terabyte data, som blev afleveret af en anonym kilde til den tyske avis  i 2015 og derefter til International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Dokumenterne blev fordelt til og analyseret af ca. 400 journalister hos 107 nyhedsorganisationer i mere end 80 lande. De første rapporteringer baseret på indholdet, sammen med selve indholdet af 149 dokumenter, blev offentliggjort den 3. april 2016. I Danmark havde DR produceret dokumentaren Det Store Skattelæk, som ligeledes blev vist 3. april 2016.

To dage efter afsløringerne valgte Islands statsminister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson at trække sig og bad præsidenten om at opløse parlamentet.

Den fulde liste af virksomheder i dokumenter blev frigivet i begyndelsen den 9. maj 2016.

Baggrund
Mossack Fonseca er en panamansk advokatvirksomhed stiftet i 1977 af Jürgen Mossack og Ramón Fonseca. Virksomhedens tjenester inkluderer at indarbejde virksomheder i offshore-områder, administrere offshore-virksomheder og rådgive om formuepleje. I 2012 nævnte Economist i en artikel, at virksomheden antages at være én af de førende i branchen i landet. Virksomheden har mere end 500 ansatte i over 40 kontorer verden over. Virksomheden har handlet på vegne af mere end 300.000 virksomheder, hvor de fleste er registreret i Storbritannien eller i skattely under britisk styre.

Firmaet samarbejder med verdens største pengeinstitutter, herunder Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Société Générale, Credit Suisse, UBS, Commerzbank og Nordea. Før Panama Papers-lækket blev Mossack Fonseca beskrevet af Economist som en "tight-lipped" (fåmælt) leder i branchen inden for offshore-økonomi.

En artikel på Australian Broadcasting Corporations website forklarer:

Indhold
Lækket består af 11,5 millioner dokumenter oprettet mellem 1970'erne og slut-2015 af den panamanske virksomhed Mossack Fonseca, som The Guardian har beskrevet som "verdens fjerdestørste offshore-advokatkontor". De 2,6 terabyte data rummer informationer om 214.488 offshore-enheder. Datasættet blev gennemgået af journalister i 80 lande. Gerard Ryle, leder af International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, antager, at lækket sandsynligvis vil være det største slag mod offshore-branchen på grund af dokumenternes omfang."

Personer
Tidlige informationer beskrev finansielle relationer og magtrelationer mellem adskillige højtstående politikere og deres omgangskreds. For eksempel er den argentinske præsident Mauricio Macri angivet som direktør for et handelsselskab i Bahamas, som han ikke havde oplyst under sit embede som borgmester for Buenos Aires; det er ikke klart om hvorvidt det var et krav, at man den gang skulle oplyse sine direktionsposter. The Guardian har angivet, at lækket har afsløret en tydelig interessekonflikt mellem et medlem af FIFA Ethics Committee og tidligere vicepræcident i FIFA, Eugenio Figueredo.

Adskillige nuværende statsledere er angivet i Panama Papers, herunder Mauricio Macri fra Argentina, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan fra Forenede Arabiske Emirater, Petro Poroshenko fra Ukraine, kong Salman fra Saudi-Arabien og Islands statsminister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. Derudover optræder der tidligere statsledere fra Georgien (Bidzina Ivanishvili), Irak (Ayad Allawi), Jordan (Ali Abu al-Ragheb), Qatar (Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani) og Ukraine (Pavlo Lazarenko), såvel som den sudanesiske præsident Ahmed al-Mirghani og Qatars emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Der er også sat navne på embedsmænd og nære relationer til forskellige statsleder fra over 40 forskellige lande, herunder Algeriet, Angola, Argentina, Aserbajdsjan, Botswana, Brasilien, Cambodia, Chile, Demokratiske Republik Congo, Ecuador, Elfenbenskysten, Frankrig, Ghana, Grækenland, Guinea, Honduras, Ungarn, Island, Indien, Israel, Italien, Kasakhstan, Kenya, Kina, Malaysia, Marokko, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Polen, Rusland, Rwanda, Saudi-Arabien, Senegal, Spanien, Storbritannien, Sydafrika, Syrien, Taiwan, Venezuela, Zambia og Ægypten. Selv om det oprindelig blev oplyst, at der ikke var nogen personer fra USA i dokumenterne, er dette ikke korrekt. Ifølge The Guardian optræder navnet Vladimir Putin ikke fortegnelserne, men avisen udgav en større artikel om tre af hans venner på listen og hævder, at hans venners succesfulde forretninger ikke kunne sikres uden hans støtte.

Datasættet viser også, hvorledes den islandske statsminister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson havde en uoplyst tilknytning til sit lands konkursramte banker, gemt bag et offshore-selskab. Lækkede dokumenter afslører, at han og hans hustru købte offshore-virksomheden Wintris Inc. i 2007. ICIJ siger, at de købte det fra Mossack Fonseca gennem den luxembourgske afdeling af Landsbanki, én af Islands tre største banker. Han erklærede ikke en forbindelse til virksomheden, da han trådte ind i parlamentet i 2009, og otte måneder efter solgte han sin 50 %-andel af Wintris til sin hustru for 1 dollar. Sigmundur Davíð opfordres til at træde tilbage, men den 4. april 2016 annoncerede han på live tv, at han ikke ville træde tilbage som følge af afsløringerne i Panama Papers, og angav at der ikke var noget nyt indhold i den forbindelse. Han hævder, at han ikke har brudt nogen regler, og at hans hustru ikke har fået nogen økonomisk gevinst på baggrund af hans handlinger.

Adskillige væsentlige personer med tilknytning til FIFA inkluderer tidligere prædifent for CONMEBOL Eugenio Figueredo, tidligere UEFA-præsident Michel Platini, tidligere generalsekretær for FIFA Jérôme Valcke, såvel som den nuværende argentinske fodboldspiller Lionel Messi. Fra Italien optræder lederen af of "Metro" Antonio Guglielmi.  The Indian Express nævner de indiske skuespillere Amitabh Bachchan og Aishwarya Rai Bachchan blandt øvrige indere.

Danskere i Panama-papirerne
Panama-papirerne nævner lidt over 300 danskere, samt både Jyske Bank og Nordea som skulle have oprettet adskillige selskaber i landet.

 Erik Damgaard, medlem af den såkaldte "milliardærklub", tidligere ejer af firmaet Navision, er ifølge Børsen nævnt i Panama-papirerne.
 Mark Szigethy, medlem af den såkaldte "milliardærklub", investeringsarkitekt, er ifølge Børsen nævnt i Panama-papirerne.
 Harry Rosenberg, forretningsmand, som blandt andet har ejet Hotel Marienlyst og stormagasinet Illum, er nævnt i dokumenterne. I 2009 solgte han et datterselskab til Aps KBUS 8 nr. 2051 til et selskab i Panama til én million kroner. Eksperter vurderer, at selskabet var godt 32 millioner kroner værd på salgstidspunktet. Kort efter salget blev KBUS erklæret konkurs med en gæld på over 100 millioner kroner til kreditorerne.
 Brian Steen Nielsen og Marc Rieper, danske fodboldspillere, fik oprettet selskaber i skattely, mens de var skattepligtige i Danmark. De udtaler begge, at de ikke har haft noget selskab i eller samarbejde med nogen i Panama.
 Forretningsmanden Knud Foldschack, halvbror til advokaten Knud Foldschack, optræder i Panama-papirerne, men forklarer sig med at "man som udenlandsk privatperson ikke kan eje et selskab i Kina".

Virksomheder
Mossack Fonseca har håndteret en større mængde virksomheder over årene, hvor antallet af aktive virksomheder nåede over 80.000 i sit højdepunkt i 2009. Over 210.000 virksomheder i 21 offshore-områder optræder i Mossack Fonsecas filer, hvor mere var indarbejde i British Virgin Islands and mange flere i Panama, Bahamas, Seychellerne, Niue og Samoa. Over årene har Mossack Fonseca haft kunder i over 100 lande; de fleste virksomheder var fra Hong Kong, Schweiz, Storbritannien, Luxembourg, Panama og Cypern. Mossack Fonseca har arbejdet med mere end 14.000 banker, advokatfirmaer og øvrige virksomheder for at oprette firmaer og fonde for deres kunder. Over 500 banker har registreret knap 15.600 stråmandsvirksomheder hos Mossack Fonseca, hvoraf HSBC og deres samarbejdspartnere har registreret over 2.300 i alt. Dexia (Luxembourg), J. Safra Sarasin (Luxembourg), Credit Suisse (Kanaløerne) and UBS (Schweiz) har hver anmodet om oprettelse af mindst 500 offshore-selskaber for deres kunder, mens Nordea (Luxembourg) anmod om knap 400.

Lækage
Mere end et år før den første udgivelse om Panama-lækken i april 2016 modtog den tyske avis Süddeutsche Zeitung 2,6 terabytes dokumenter relateret til Mossack Fonseca fra en anonym kilde.

Den samlede mængde af de lækkede dokumenter overstiger langt mængden af dokumenter fra Wikileaks Cablegate 2010 (1,7 GB), Offshore Leaks 2013 (260 GB), Lux Leaks 2014 (4 GB) og Swiss Leaks 2015 (3,3 GB). Datasættet består primært af e-mails, PDF-filer, billeder og uddrag af en intern Mossack Fonseca-database. Lækagen dækker en periode fra 1970'erne til 2016. Panama Papers-lækagen rummer data om omtrent 214.000 virksomheder. Der er en mappe for hver stråmandsvirksomhed, som rummer e-mails, kontrakter, afskrifter og scannede dokumenter. Lækagen indeholder 4.804.618 emails, 3.047.306 database-filer, 2.154.264 PDF'er, 1.117.026 billeder, 320.166 tekstfiler og 2.242 filer i øvrige formater.

Datasættet måtte katalogiseres systematisk. Dette blev foretaget ved hjælp af proprietær software udviklet af den australske virksomhed Nuix, som også benyttes af internationale efterforskere. Dokumenterne blev kørt igennem kraftige computere, som foretog optisk tegngenkendelse, hvilket gjorde datasættet maskinlæsbart og søgbart. Fortegnelser over vigtige personer blev derefter krydsrefereret med de efterbehandlede dokumenter. Det næste skridt i analysen består i at forbinde personer, roller, pengeflow og de juridiske selskabskonstruktioner.

Reaktioner
Lækagen blev beskrevet af Edward Snowden, kilden bag 2013-lækagen af NSA's globale overvågningsprogram, som "det største læk i datajournalistikkens historie" i en besked på Twitter.

Præsident Obama udtalte ved en pressebriefing den 5. april bl.a. "Jeg vil sige, at det bliver hårdt nogle gange, når IRS (svarende til Skatteministeriet) bliver udsultet for ressourcer og presset af Kongressens bevillingsproces, således at der ikke er nok folk til rent faktisk at være opmærksomme på, hvad alle de advokater og revisorer laver hele tiden. Men vi har igen og igen understreget vigtigheden af, at skattelovgivningen helt grundlæggende bliver håndhævet." og senere: "Problemet er ikke, at de bryder lovene. Problemet er, at lovene er så dårligt formuleret, at de tillader folk, hvis de har nok med advokater og nok med revisorer til rådighed, at smyge sig ud af forpligtelser, som almindelige borgere er nødt til at overholde."

Udtalelse fra Mossack Fonseca
Som svar på spørgsmål fra The Miami Herald og ICIJ udsendte Mossack Fonseca en udtalelse på 2.900 ord. Mossack Fonseca oplyste, at de fulgte gældende lovgivning og retningslinjer på området, som ville minimere muligheden for at bruge offshore-selskaber til skattely i anonymitet. Mere specifikt citerede de G7's FATF-protocoler (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering), som kræver at virksomheder og finansselskaber over det meste i verden skal sørge for entydig identifikation af de reelle ejere af samtlige virksomheder (herunder offshore-selskaber) for at åbne konti og foretage handel.

The Miami Herald skønnede i en opfølgende leder, at Mossack Fonsecas udtalelse ikke afklarede specifik tvivlsom due-diligence-behandling, som journalister havde fundet frem til.

Den 4. april kom Mossack Fonseca med en udtalelse: "Offentligheden har ikke den store indsigt i vores branche, og desværre vil denne serie af artikler blot øge forvirringen. Facts er som følger: Selv om vi har været udsat for en datalækage, er der intet i det ulovligt anskaffede datasæt, som antyder, at vi skulle have foretaget os noget ulovligt, og det følger det internationale ry, vi har opbygget over de seneste 40 år ved at drive forretning på den reelle måde, lige her i Panama. Der er selvfølgelig ingen, som ønsker at få deres ejendom stjålet, og vi vil gøre, hvad vi kan, for at retfærdigheden sker fyldest over for de skyldige. Men i mellemtiden er vores plan fortsat at betjene vores kunder, stå bag folket samt støtte de lokalsamfund, som vi har været så privilegeret at samarbejde med over hele verden, ligesom vi har gjort i snart fire årtier." Firmaets medstifter, Ramon Fonseca Mora, fortalte CNN at de offentliggjorte informationer er falske og fuld af unøjagtigeheder, og at i mange tilfælde er enheder, som ICIJ har oplyst, ikke og har aldrig været kunder hos Mossack Fonseca. Virksomheden bragte en længere udtalelse til ICIJ.

Kunder under anklage
Efter et interview forud for lækket offentliggjorde Islands statsminister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson og hans hustru udtalelser om journalistisk dyneløfteri i deres privatliv og insisterede på, at intet var blevet tilbageholdt. Inden for to dage af de første nyheder om lækagen trak Sigmundur Davíð sig tilbage.

En talsmand fra HSBC udtalte, at beskyldningerne var forældede og i nogle tilfælde strakte sig 20 år tilbage, før de havde foretaget markante reformer på området.

Lionel Messis familie fortalte, at de havde indgivet en klage efter artikler om, at han havde dannet et skattely-netværk i Panama. Familien nægtede, at Messi havde været involveret og kaldte anklagerne for bagvaskelse. De har angivet, at virksomheden, som i dokumenterne er kædet sammen med Messi, var inaktiv, og at Messi har erklæret alle indtægter over for skattevæsenet.

Over 10 millioner pund fra røveriet mod Brink's-Mat i Heathrow i 1983 blev hvidvasket uforvarende og senere med Mossack Fonsecas viden igennem et panamansk selskab, som blev oprettet på vegne af en anonym kunde 12 måneder efter Heathrow-røveriet. Pengene blev kanaliseret igennem virksomheden Feberion, som kun var ejet igennem ihændehaveraktier, samt andre dækvirksomheder via banker i Schweiz, Liechtenstein, Jersey og Isle of Man. To udpegede direktører fra Sark blev tilknyttet Feberion. Offshore-selskabernes funktion var at hvidvaske pengene gennem køb af land og ejendom i Storbritannien. Selv om Scotland Yard endevendt kontorerne i slutningen af 1986 i samarbejde med Jerseys myndigheder og fik konfiskeret dokumenter og de to ihændehaveraktier for Feberion, fik Brink's-Mats advokater først råderet over Feberion og dets aktiver i 1995.

Se også
 Skattely
 Skattesvig
 WikiLeaks' offentliggørelse af korrespondance fra amerikanske ambassader
 Luxembourg leaks
 Swiss Leaks

Noter

Eksterne henvisninger
 Panama Papers Portal of International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (USA)
 Panama Papers Portal of Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
 ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database

Papirerne
Selskabsret
Skattepolitik
Journalistik
Skatteunddragelse

Panama-papirerne


Circaeaster, monotipski biljni rod iz porodice Circaeasteraceae, dio reda žabnjakolike. Jedina je vrsta C. agrestis, zeljasta biljka vlažnih travnjaka i sjenovitih šuma na visinama od 2 100 - 5 000 m., raširena od zapadnih Himalaja do Kine.

Porijeklom je iz Kine, Nepala i Butana. To je mala zeljasta biljka s dihotomno prošaranim listovima i malim cvjetovima s odvojenim karpelama.

Po životnom obliku je terofit.

Izvori

Vanjske poveznice

Žabnjakolike
Flora Gansua
Flora Qinghaia
Flora Shaanxija
Flora Sichuana
Flora Xinjianga
Flora Tibeta
Flora Yunnana
Flora Butana
Flora Nepala
Flora Indije
Flora Sikkima

Circaeaster


Poul Johan Touborg Pedersen (født 14. april 1928 i Århus, død maj 2019) var en dansk fotograf, han er søn af fotograf Thomas Pedersen.
Poul Pedersen gik fra portrætfotografering over til at fotografere arkitektur og kunst. I 1952 mødte han Asger Jorn i Silkeborg og udførte sammen med Jorn en række lystegninger. Hans fotograferingen af romansk skulptur i Danmark er blevet udgivet i flere publikationer.

Poul Pedersen er rigtigt repræsenteret på Brandts og Det Nationale Fotomuseum, men også på ARoS og Kastrupgårdsamlingen.

Bibliografi
 Fotografens Århus, Århus Byhistoriske Udvalg,

Referencer

Eksterne henvisninger

Fotografer fra Danmark

Poul Pedersen (fotograf)


Aurelijus Rūtenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas (; born 25 March 1952) is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician. He has a master's degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia, and a Honoris Causa PhD from the University of Paris.

He is the son of Lithuanian immigrants. He left office as the president of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá in 1993, and later that year ran a successful campaign for mayor. He proceeded to preside over Bogotá as mayor for two (non-consecutive) terms, during which he became known for springing surprising and humorous initiatives upon the city's inhabitants. These tended to involve grand gestures, including local artists or personal appearances by the mayor himself—taking a shower in a commercial about conserving water, or walking the streets dressed in spandex and a cape as Supercitizen. On 4 March 2010, he was elected in a public consultation as the Colombian Green Party candidate for the presidential election in 2010.

On 4 April 2010, Antanas Mockus chose Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellín, as his vice-presidential running mate. On 9 April 2010 he announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He told La W radio: "The prediction is that this will not affect my mental activities. I think it is absolutely fitting to tell the people about the diagnosis and about the prognosis—which is 12 years or more of normal life thanks to medication." Mockus finished second in the polling, leading to a runoff election with Juan Manuel Santos, which Santos won. Mockus resigned from the Green Party in June 2011 because he opposed its Bogotá mayoral candidate being supported by former right-wing President Álvaro Uribe.

He became Senator of the Republic of Colombia in July 2018, after being the second candidate with the most votes in the legislative elections held on March 11, 2018. He is also the president of the Corporación Visionarios por Colombia (Corpovisionarios), center of thought and non-profit action that investigates, advises, designs and implements actions to achieve voluntary changes in collective behavior.

Early life and career
Mockus was born in Bogotá. He holds a 1972 Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France and a 1988 Master of Arts degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia. He has been a professor and researcher at the university since 1975 and has served as its vice president (1988–1991) and president (1991–1993). As its president, he contributed to the formulation of the Colombian Constitution of 1991, focusing on educational issues. In a notable 1993 incident, when confronted with a disruptive group of students, he mooned them. He later explained his action by saying "Innovative behavior can be useful when you run out of words", and linked it to philosopher Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "symbolic violence." He resigned as University president during the aftermath but gained a higher public profile that benefited his subsequent run for the mayorship.

Bogotá mayorship
In 1995 he was elected Mayor of Bogotá.  Under Mockus's leadership, Bogotá saw improvements such as: water usage dropped 40%, 7000 community security groups were formed and the homicide rate fell 70%, traffic fatalities dropped by over 50%, drinking water was provided to all homes (up from 79% in 1993), and sewerage was provided to 95% of homes (up from 71%). When he asked residents to pay a voluntary extra 10% in taxes, 63,000 people did so. His market-oriented social policies were much less successful. Poverty and unemployment levels were high throughout his tenures and continue to be a pressing issue in Bogotá's social life.

Famous initiatives included hiring 420 mimes to make fun of traffic violators, because he believed Colombians were more afraid of being ridiculed than fined. He also put in place one "Night Without Men", on which the city's men were asked to stay home for an evening to look after the house and the children while the women went out. The city sponsored free open-air concerts, bars offered women-only specials, Ciclovia and the city's women police were in charge of keeping the peace. Amassing political support mainly from Bogotá's middle and upper classes, he has been much less successful attracting voters in the national level.

During Mockus' unsuccessful presidential bid in 1998, Enrique Peñalosa replaced him as mayor. Peñalosa worked in a similar way instituting popular new bike paths and bus systems. When Mockus ran again for the 2001 mayorship, he held a ceremony in a public fountain "to ask forgiveness for leaving the mayor's office in an unsuccessful bid for the presidency." The impact of Mockus and Peñalosa on the development of Bogotá is described in a documentary film released in October 2009 with the title CITIES ON SPEED – Bogotá Change.

In 2003 Mockus stepped down as mayor, to be replaced by Luis Eduardo Garzón, and took a year's sabbatical, traveling and speaking around the world. He planned to return to teaching at National University of Colombia the following year, although he said he was "considering the possibility of launching a presidential campaign". After spending two weeks as a visiting fellow at the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in the United States in 2004, "to share lessons about civic engagement with students and faculty", Mockus returned to Harvard as a Visiting Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures to teach two Spanish classes during the Fall 2004–2005 semester. In November, Mockus made a special trip to the University of Virginia to speak about the use of positive social mechanisms in relation to his tenure as the mayor of Bogotá.

In 2004 Lithuanian worldwide daily Draugas chose Mockus as Lithuanian of the Year. In October 2004 he visited the Lithuanian community in Chicago, which is the biggest Lithuanian community outside the Lithuania, and delivered a speech in his native Lithuanian language. He is the president of Corpovisionarios, an organization that consults to cities about addressing their problems through the same policy methodology that was so successful during his terms as Mayor of Bogotá.

Presidential bids

In between his two terms as mayor, Mockus ran an unsuccessful 1998 bid for the presidency, first in his own name and later as Noemí Sanín Posada's running mate. Mockus ran in the 2006 presidential election as a member of the Indigenous Social Alliance Movement. He finished fourth in the election, attracting 1.24% of the vote.

In August 2009, Mockus and two other past mayors of Bogotá (Enrique Peñalosa  and Luis Eduardo Garzón) joined a new political movement, Colombian Green Party and decided that one of them would run for office in the 2010 Colombian presidential elections. Mockus, Peñalosa and Garzón embarked on an innovative campaign, in which they acknowledged and honored each other's qualifications and preparedness for the job, and telling people to choose whomever they liked best. Through a popular consultation carried on 14 March 2010, which he won by a large margin, Mockus became the Colombian Green Party presidential candidate.
On 4 April 2010, Antanas Mockus chose Medellín's former mayor Sergio Fajardo as his running mate, unifying two groups at the center of the political spectrum. Mockus finished second in the first round of voting, with 21.5% of the vote, qualifying him to participate in a runoff election with Juan Manuel Santos, which Mockus lost decisively with 27.5% of the vote.

Antanas Mockus left the Green Party in 2011.

References

External links

 Partido Verde  (Green Party, Colombia)

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1952 births
Living people
Politicians from Bogotá
Colombian people of Lithuanian descent
National University of Colombia alumni
Academic staff of the National University of Colombia
University of Paris alumni
Mayors of Bogotá
Green Alliance (Colombia) politicians
Yes Colombia politicians
Colombian philosophers
20th-century Colombian mathematicians

Antanas Mockus


دنهولم إليوت  (31 مايو 1922 – 6 أكتوبر 1992) ممثل إنجليزي شارك في أكثر من 120 فيلم وحصل على ثلاث جوائز بافتا كأفضل ممثل في دور مساعد , كما ترشح لجائزة الأوسكار لأفضل ممثل مساعد عن دوره في فيلم غرفة مع منظر.

أدواره في السينما الأمريكية
 سارقو التابوت الضائع - ماركوس برودي
 إنديانا جونز والحملة الأخيرة - ماركوس برودي

مواقع خارجية

مراجع

أسرى في الحرب العالمية الثانية أسرتهم ألمانيا
أشخاص متعلمون في كلية مالفيرن
أشخاص من إيلينغ
أشخاص من كنزينغتون
أشخاص من يابسة (جزيرة)
أعلام إل جي بي تي إنجليزية في القرن 20
أفراد عسكريون من ميديلسكس
إنجليز بإعاقات
حائزون على جائزة بافتا (أشخاص)
حائزون على وسام الإمبراطورية البريطانية من رتبة قائد
خريجو الأكاديمية الملكية للفنون المسرحية
رجال ثنائيو الميول الجنسية
شخصيات مثلية القرن 20
طيارون أسقطت طائراتهم
فنانون ترفيهيون مثليون من إنجلترا
مرضى الإيدز
مسرحيون إنجليز
مغتربون إنجليز في إسبانيا
ممثلو أداء صوتي إنجليز
ممثلو أفلام إنجليز
ممثلو أفلام من لندن
ممثلو تلفزيون إنجليز
ممثلون إنجليز في القرن 20
ممثلون مثليون من إنجلترا
مواليد 1922
وفيات 1992
وفيات السل في إسبانيا
وفيات بسبب السل في القرن 20
وفيات في إيبيزا (جزيرة)

دنهولم إليوت


Robert Thomas Seeley (* 26. Februar 1932 in Bryn Mawr; † 30. November 2016 in Newton (Massachusetts)) war ein US-amerikanischer Mathematiker, der sich mit Analysis beschäftigte.

Seeley studierte am Haverford College (Bachelor 1953) und am Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), wo er 1958 bei Alberto Calderon promoviert wurde (Singular integrals on compact manifolds). Danach war er 1958 bis 1961 am Harvey Mudd College als Instructor und später als Assistant Professor und ab 1963 Assistant Professor an der Brandeis University, wo er 1967 eine volle Professur erhielt. Seit 1972 war Seeley Professor für Mathematik an der University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Er befasste sich unter anderem mit Pseudodifferentialoperatoren und dem Atiyah-Singer-Indexsatz.

1970 war er Invited Speaker auf dem Internationalen Mathematikerkongress in Nizza (Fractional powers of boundary problems). 1965 bis 1967 war er Sloan Research Fellow. Er war Fellow der American Mathematical Society.

Seeley war verheiratet und wurde Vater von vier Kindern.

Schriften
Introduction to Fourier series and integrals, Benjamin 1966
Calculus of one variable, Glenview, Illinois, Scott/Foresman 1968
Calculus of several variables, Glenview, Illinois, Scott/Foresman 1970
Calculus of one and several variables, Glenview, Illinois 1973
Calculus, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich 1990
Integro-differential operators on vector bundles, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., Band 117, 1965, S. 167–204 (Seeley Algebra)

Einzelnachweise

Mathematiker (20. Jahrhundert)
Hochschullehrer (University of Massachusetts Boston)
Fellow der American Mathematical Society
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1932
Gestorben 2016
Mann

Robert T. Seeley


O Grupo de Combatentes Populares (, GCP) é um movimento insurgente marxista-leninista de extrema-esquerda ativo na República do Equador. É o braço armado do Partido Comunista Marxista-Leninista do Equador (PCMLE), um partido formado em 1964 como uma cisão do Partido Comunista do Equador e internacionalmente afiliado à Conferência Internacional de Partidos e Organizações Marxistas-Leninistas (Unidade e Luta). O partido pertence a uma tradição antirrevisionista do marxismo-leninismo, originalmente alinhada com a Albânia durante a Guerra Fria e frequentemente referida como hoxhaismo.

Formação e desenvolvimento
O Grupo de Combatentes Populares é o setor militante e armado do Partido Comunista Marxista-Leninista do Equador.

O braço armado foi originalmente formado em 1994, durante a presidência de Sixto Durán Ballén. Tornou-se muito mais ativo em 2000 e desde então se envolveu em uma série de ataques a diplomatas estrangeiros, bem como em vários atentados a bomba. Esses ataques bombistas utilizaram a chamada propaganda em panfletos aéreos, uma tática relativamente popular entre os revolucionários latino-americanos. Por exemplo, em 2001, o GCP foi responsabilizado pelas autoridades por uma "bomba panfletária" e mais tarde no mesmo ano o grupo reivindicou a responsabilidade por detonar uma "bomba panfletária" no centro de Quito que soltou centenas de panfletos protestando contra o Plano Colômbia.

Em 2002, foi relatado que o Grupo de Combatentes Populares estava tentando estabelecer uma base rural em uma região de selva remota na fronteira com a Colômbia, e que talvez estivessem recebendo treinamento de alguns dos grupos guerrilheiros envolvidos no conflito colombiano em curso.

Ações
O Grupo de Combatentes Populares reivindicou a autoria de três ataques no Equador. O  primeiro em 28 de setembro de 1997 em Quito, Pichincha, onde ninguém foi ferido ou morto. O segundo ocorreu em 16 de fevereiro de 2000 na cidade de Guayaquil, Guayas, quando uma rede de televisão recebeu uma fita de vídeo que continha uma bomba escondida. Rafael Cuesta, redator da emissora e única vítima do ataque, foi ferido quando a bomba explodiu dentro da emissora. Antes do ataque, a estação de notícias havia alertado sobre um possível ataque de um grupo distinto. Isso inicialmente levou as autoridades a culpar uma organização diferente, embora o Grupo de Combatentes Populares acabou assumindo a responsabilidade. Rafael Cuesta foi o único ferido e ninguém foi morto. O terceiro atentado terrorista aconteceu em 21 de fevereiro de 2000, também em Guayaquil. O alvo era o líder dos direitos indígenas, Marcos Murillo. Também neste incidente, uma fitacassete que foi enviada para Marcos continha uma bomba escondida. A polícia foi chamada e a bomba foi desativada. Ninguém foi morto ou ferido. Em 22 de novembro de 2010, o Grupo de Combatentes Populares reivindicou a autoria de uma bomba colocada na sede da Universidade de Guayaquil. A organização não estava ativa há quase uma década quando isso ocorreu. O Grupo de Combatentes Populares alegou ter usado a bomba para tentar influenciar as eleições estudantis realizadas na universidade.

Grupos guerrilheiros do Equador
Organizações hoxhaistas

Grupo de Combatentes Populares


OAO S.P. Korolyov Rocket and Space Corporation Energia නැතහොත් RSC Energia ලෙසද හදුන්වන කොරලියෙව් සැලසුම් ආයතනය රුසියානු අභ්‍යාවකාශ යානා සහ අභ්‍යාවකාශ මධයස්ථාන කොටස් නිෂ්පාදන සමාගමකි.

කොරලියෙව් සැලසුම් ආයතනය


The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at  through  (also known as RFRA, pronounced "rifra"), is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected." The bill was introduced by Congressman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on March 11, 1993. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) the same day. A unanimous U.S. House and a nearly unanimous U.S. Senate—three senators voted against passage—passed the bill, and President Bill Clinton signed it into law.

The law was passed in response to the United States Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which held that "neutral laws of general applicability" that burden the free exercise of religion do not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. RFRA requires that strict scrutiny be applied to any law that burdens religious freedom, providing that such a law may only be justified if it is the least restrictive means of pursuing a compelling government interest.

While RFRA initially applied to both state and federal laws, its application to state governments was held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the City of Boerne v. Flores decision in 1997, which ruled that the RFRA is not a proper exercise of Congress's enforcement power. However, it continues to be applied to the federal government—for instance, in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (2006) and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014). These cases did not consider whether Congress was violating the Establishment Clause if it carves out exemptions based on religious laws from federal laws and regulations that it itself has authorized. In response to City of Boerne v. Flores and other related RFR issues, twenty-one individual states have passed State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts that apply to state governments and local municipalities.

Provisions
This law reinstated the Sherbert Test, which was set forth by Sherbert v. Verner, and Wisconsin v. Yoder, mandating that strict scrutiny be used when determining whether the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing religious freedom, has been violated. In the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Congress states in its findings that a religiously neutral law can burden a religion just as much as one that was intended to interfere with religion; therefore, the Act states that the "Government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability."

The law provided an exception if two conditions are met. First, the burden must be necessary for the "furtherance of a compelling government interest." Under strict scrutiny, a government interest is compelling when it is more than routine and does more than simply improve government efficiency. A compelling interest relates directly to core constitutional issues. The second condition is that the rule must be the least restrictive way in which to further the government interest.

Background and passage

The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment states that Congress shall not pass laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. In the 1960s, the Supreme Court interpreted this as banning laws that burdened a person's exercise of religion (e.g. Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972)). But in the 1980s the Court began to allow legislation that incidentally prohibited religiously mandatory activities as long as the ban was "generally applicable" to all citizens.

But "generally applicable" bans frequently conflicted with Native American religious practice.  Often, government projects required acquisition of sacred grounds necessary for Native American rituals.  Ritual peyote use infringed on the federal war on drugs.  And the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, which Congress had passed to protect tribal religious freedoms, lacked an enforcement mechanism.

These interests collided in Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association, 485 U.S. 439 (1988), and Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990).

In Lyng, members of the Yurok, Tolowa and Karok tribes argued that the First Amendment should prevent the U.S. Forest Service from constructing a road through sacred land used in ceremonies and prayer. The Supreme Court disagreed, arguing that only government coercion or punishment for religious beliefs would violate the First Amendment.

In Smith, the Court upheld the state of Oregon's refusal to grant unemployment benefits to two Native Americans fired from their jobs at a rehab clinic after testing positive for mescaline, the main psychoactive compound in the peyote cactus, which they had used in a religious ceremony.

The Smith decision outraged the public. Groups representing all points on the political spectrum (from the liberal American Civil Liberties Union to the conservative Traditional Values Coalition) and a wide variety of religions (i.e. the Christian Legal Society, the American Jewish Congress, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and the National Association of Evangelicals) agreed that the law required reform, and recommended reinstating the Sherbert Test.  In response, Congress passed the RFRA, unanimously in the House and 97-to-3 in the Senate.  The bill was then signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Applicability
The RFRA applies "to all Federal law, and the implementation of that law, whether statutory or otherwise", including any Federal statutory law adopted after the RFRA's date of signing "unless such law explicitly excludes such application."

According to a federal appeals court ruling on March 7, 2018, the RFRA does not justify discrimination against employees on the basis of their lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender identity. However, on October 15, 2019, federal judge Reed O'Connor said that, because of the RFRA, federally-funded healthcare insurers and providers must be allowed to deny medical treatment and coverage on the basis of the sex, gender identity or termination of pregnancy of the person who is requesting the services, even if the services are medically necessary. Transgender people may be turned down even if the healthcare service they need is not related to their being transgender.

Challenges and weaknesses

In 1997, part of this act was overturned by the United States Supreme Court. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio wanted to enlarge a church in Boerne, Texas, but a Boerne ordinance protected the building as a historic landmark and did not permit it to be torn down. The church sued, citing RFRA, and in the resulting case, City of Boerne v. Flores, , the Supreme Court struck down the RFRA with respect to its applicability to States (but not Federally), stating that Congress had stepped beyond its power of enforcement provided in the Fourteenth Amendment. In response to the Boerne ruling, Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000, which grants special privileges to religious land owners.

A number of states have passed state RFRAs, applying the rule to the laws of their own state, but the Smith case remains the authority in these matters in many states.

The constitutionality of RFRA as applied to the federal government was confirmed on February 21, 2006, as the Supreme Court ruled against the government in Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, , which involved the use of an otherwise illegal substance in a religious ceremony, stating that the federal government must show a compelling state interest in restricting religious conduct.

Post-Smith, many members of the Native American Church still had issues using peyote in their ceremonies. This led to the Religious Freedom Act Amendments in 1994, which state, "the use, possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian for bona fide traditional ceremony purposes in connection with the practice of a traditional Indian religion is lawful, and shall not be prohibited by the United States or any state. No Indian shall be penalized or discriminated against on the basis of such use, possession or transportation."

Tanzin v. Tanvir (2020) determined that RFRA allows for those whose religious rights are adversely affected by federal officers acting in their capacity for the government to seek appropriate remedies, including monetary damages, from those individuals. The case involved three Muslim men, all legal residents of the United States, who had been placed on the No Fly List by FBI agents for refusing to be informants for their fellow Muslim communities.

Applications and effects
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act holds the federal government responsible for accepting additional obligations to protect religious exercise. In O'Bryan v. Bureau of Prisons, it was found that the RFRA governs the actions of federal officers and agencies and that the RFRA can be applied to "internal operations of the federal government." RFRA, in conjunction with President Bill Clinton's executive order in 1996, provided more security for sacred sites for Native American religious rites.

As of 1996, the year before the RFRA was found unconstitutional as applied to states, 337 cases had cited RFRA in its three-year time range. It was also found that Jewish, Muslim, and Native American religions, which make up only three percent of religious membership in the U.S., make up 18 percent of the cases involving the free exercise of religion.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was a cornerstone for tribes challenging the National Forest Service's plans to permit upgrades to Arizona's Snowbowl ski resort. Six tribes were involved, including the Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, and Hualapai. The tribes objected on religious grounds to the plans to use reclaimed water. They felt that this risked infecting the tribal members with "ghost sickness" as the water would be from mortuaries and hospitals. They also felt that the reclaimed water would contaminate the plant life used in ceremonies. In August 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their RFRA claim.

In the case of Adams v. Commissioner, the United States Tax Court rejected the argument of Priscilla M. Lippincott Adams, who was a devout Quaker. She tried to argue that under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, she was exempt from federal income taxes. The U.S. Tax Court rejected her argument and ruled that she was not exempt. The Court stated that "while petitioner's religious beliefs are substantially burdened by payment of taxes that fund military expenditures, the Supreme Court has established that uniform, mandatory participation in the Federal income tax system, irrespective of religious belief, is a compelling governmental interest." In the case of Miller v. Commissioner, the taxpayers objected to the use of social security numbers, arguing that such numbers related to the "mark of the beast" from the Bible. In its decision, the U.S. Court discussed the applicability of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, but ruled against the taxpayers.

In Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the use of recycled sewage water in order to manufacture artificial snow in the San Francisco Peaks was not a "substantial burden" on the religious freedom of Native Americans.

The RFRA figured prominently in oral arguments in the case, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, heard by the Supreme Court on March 25, 2014. In a 5–4 decision, Justice Alito declared that nothing about the language of RFRA or the manner in which Congress passed it implied the statutory protections conferred therein were confined solely within the bounds of First Amendment case law as it existed pre-Smith.

20th anniversary
A day-long symposium was held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7, 2013, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "Restored or Endangered? The State of the Free Exercise of Religion in America" featured three panel discussions and two keynote addresses.

The first keynote address was from Oliver S. Thomas, the former general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the chair of the diverse "Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion" in the 1990s that worked for the passage of RFRA. The second was from Douglas Laycock, who was an author of RFRA. His address traced the legal history of RFRA and discussed its impact on current debates, including the contraception mandate and same-sex marriage laws.

The panel discussions covered the history and impact of RFRA, religious freedom and the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act, and current and future challenges to the free exercise of religion in a diverse society. The addresses and panel discussions are all available online, as well as a special downloadable resource with more on RFRA, published by the Baptist Joint Committee.

See also
 Freedom of religion in the United States
 Reuben Snake
 War on Drugs

References

External links
 Text of the statute
 Unconstitutional Restoration - A Princeton Law Journal article on the history, interpretation, and status of the Act.
 RFRAs and Public Policy
 RFRA history and resources from the Baptist Joint Committee
 Baptist Joint Committee page dedicated to Newseum symposium

1993 in American law
United States federal legislation
Freedom of religion in the United States
1993 in religion
United States legislation about religion

Religious Freedom Restoration Act


Anschlussverwendung ist der Einsatz eines Mitglieds des Militärs nach Absolvierung bestimmter Dienste in einer anderen Funktion.

Der Begriff wird gelegentlich auch im Umgang mit verbeamteten Lehrern oder anderen Fachkräften genutzt, wenn diese aus verschiedenen Gründen die aktuelle Tätigkeit nicht fortsetzen können. Er wurde 2012 kritisch und ironisch zitiert, weil der FDP-Bundesvorsitzende Philipp Rösler sinngemäß im März 2012 sagte, die Bundesagentur für Arbeit solle den Schlecker-Angestellten helfen, selbst eine Anschlussverwendung zu finden. Einige Autoren schlugen unabhängig voneinander vor, den Begriff zum Unwort des Jahres zu machen.

Einzelnachweise

Fachbegriff (Militärwesen)

Anschlussverwendung


Yuki Saito (斉藤由贵, Saito Yuki, Nació el 10 de septiembre de 1966 en minami-ku,Yokohama prefectura de kanagawa, Japón.) Es una actriz, cantante, escritora , ensayista y poeta japonesa.(al haber contraído nupcias, su nombre actual es Yuki Isarai (小井由贵, Isarai Yuki), sin embargo ella sigue trabajando como Yuki Saito.asistió a la escuela secundaria Shimizugaoka,(ahora conocida como escuela secundaria Seiryo Sogolo), localizada en kanagawa.Su padre es dueño de una extensa y muy respetada tienda de obi, y su hermano es el actor Riuji Saito.

Ella es muy conocida en Japón por ser miembro de La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días, debido a su fe ella se negaba a trabajar los días domingo. También durante el rodaje de la película "Koisuru Onnatachi" de 1986 Saito utilizó un cigarro falso, ya que según sus creencias se prohíbe el uso del tabaco (fumar).

Véase también

 Mujeres en la música

Enlaces externos
Yuki Saito en IMDb (en inglés)

Actrices de Japón
Cantantes femeninas de pop de Japón
Músicos de la prefectura de Kanagawa
Actrices de la prefectura de Kanagawa
Cantautoras de Japón
Cristianos de Japón
Japonesas del siglo XXI
Nacidos en Yokohama

Yuki Saito


سلمان المؤشر لاعب كرة قدم سعودي دولي سابق يلعب حالياً في نادي الطائي.

مسيرته الكروية
بدأ كلاعب في نادي حراء في مكة المكرمة مسقط رأسه وقدم مستويات ممتازة مع ناشئي حراء، ثم لعب لنادي الهلال في عمر السادسة عشر في صيف 2005 ، وتابع مسيرته مع نادي الهلال السعودي ، ثم عاد مجددا لنادي الوحدة وأبرز نفسه، مما جعل بوصلة الأهلاويين تتجه إليه . أنضم للأهلي في صيف عام 2014 حيث أبرز نفسه كثيرا وأصبح من أوراق الفريق الثمينة وكسب خبرات مما جعله ينضم للمنتخب من جديد، اختير سابقاً لقائمة المنتخب السعودي في مباراتيه مع إسبانيا والجابون .
إنضم في صيف 2023 لنادي الطائي بعد نهاية عقده مع النادي الأهلي.

البطولات

الأهلي
 كأس ولي العهد :
 البطل: 2015
 الدوري السعودي :
 البطل: 2016
 كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين :
 البطل: 2016
 كأس السوبر :
 البطل: 2016
 دوري الدرجة الأولى السعودي :
 البطل:''' 2023

وصلات داخلية
 نادي الهلال السعودي
 نادي الوحدة السعودي
 نادي الأهلي السعودي
 كرة القدم السعودية

روابط خارجية

مصادر

أجنحة كرة قدم
أشخاص على قيد الحياة
أشخاص من مكة
رياضيون من مكة
لاعبو النادي الأهلي (السعودية)
لاعبو دوري الدرجة الأولى السعودي
لاعبو دوري المحترفين السعودي
لاعبو كرة قدم رجالية سعوديون
لاعبو كرة قدم سعوديون
لاعبو منتخب السعودية لكرة القدم
لاعبو نادي الطائي
لاعبو نادي القادسية (السعودية)
لاعبو نادي الهلال (السعودية)
لاعبو نادي الوحدة (السعودية)
لاعبو نادي حراء
مواليد 1408 هـ
مواليد 1409 هـ
مواليد 1987
مواليد 1988
مواليد في مكة

سلمان المؤشر